Smelting apparatus



Aug. 19 1924. 1,505,495 R. RODRIAN SMELTING APPARATUS Original Filed Marchv 5, 1922 lmlffmm.

Patented Aug. 19, 1924.

IED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

vRICHARD RODRIAN, F NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR T0 RODRIAN ELECTRO-METAL- LURGICAL C0., INCORPORATED, A CORPORATION 0F DELAWARE.

sMnL'r'INe APPARATUS.

Original application led March 3, 1922, Serial No. 540,730. Divided and this application filed May 26,

1922. Serial No. 563,749.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, RICHARD RODRIAN, a citizen of Germany, and a resident of the borough of Manhattan, city, county, and.

with reference to the accompanying draw-- ings, and the novel features will then be pointed out in the appended claims.

The saidv drawings represent, as an example, a satisfactory smelting furnace enibodying this invention. Figure 1 is a perspectiveview of the apparatus, with parts broken away and parts in section; Fig.

2 is a lan view of the furnace cover, and

Fig. 3 1s a vertical section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

As indicated in Fig. 1, the furnace may be supported on legs 10 and preferably comprises a shell composed of a bottnm 11 and of a cylindrical body 12, both made of sheet iron. Within this shell is located a lining 13 of fire-brick or similar refractory material, which is a non-conductor of electricity, so shaped as to form an interior chamber 14 which preferably flares upwardly. The upper end of this chamber is normally closed by a cover which I prefer to make in separable sections, the cover illustrated comprising two sections 15 and 16 respectively, made of fire-brick or like material, each notched at the centre of the cover, so that when the sections are assembled, an Aopening 17 will be formed for the passage of the upper (positive) electrode 18, generally made of carbon. The joint between the sections of the cover is preferably made in the tongue-and-groove style indicated at 19, 20, `thereby preventing escape of the flames to the outside of the furnace. The fire-brick sections 15, 16 may be secured in curved frames 21 of sheet metal, provided with handles 22 secured thereto by screws 23 or like fastenings, which may also project into the sections 15, 16 to connect said sections with the respective frames 21.

The electrode 18 is shown as extending vertically through a socket 24 in which it may be adjusted up and down, being secured,

after adjustment, by means of a set screw- 25. The socket 24 is located at the free end of a carrier arm 26 extending horizontally from` another socket 27 movable on a vertical rod 28- both up and down to adjust the level of the arm 26 or to permit the arm to be raised sufliciently to remove the electrode from the furnace, and also circumferentially, that is to say, about the axis of thevsupport ing rod 28, so as to bring the socket 24 and the electrode 18 into proper registry with the centre of the cover opening 17. A set screw 29 serves to lock the socket 27 after adjustment. At 30 I have indicated a binding post or like device for connection with the positive current-supplying wire 31.

At the bottom of the chamber 14 is located a conducting plate or disk 32 of iron, graphite or other suitable material, the upper Surface of which is preferably flush with the adjacent bottom surface of said chamber. By means of a wire, bar or other lead 33 and of a clamp 34, this plate 32 is connected with the negative current-supplying wire 35. Into the chamber 14, at two diiferent levels, lead pipes or nozzles 36, 37 are preferably directed downwardly and inwardly, for injecting into said chamber either a mixture of air and fuel, or air alone. For instance, compressed air may be supplied through a pipe 38, and gas or other fuel through a pipe 39, provided with a cock or valve 40. The pipe 41 will receive a mixture of air and fuel if the valve 40 is open, but if said valve is closed, only air will pass to the pipe 41. From the latter the air or the air-andfuel mixture, as the case may be, passes to branches 42 having cocks or valves`43 and 44 controlling, individually, the connections of said branches 42 with the pipes or nozzles 36 and 37 respectively, in such a manner that any one or more of these pipes or nozzles may be disconnected or shut oft' without aecting the others. f

From the bottom of the chamber 14 an outlet channel 45 inclined downwardly and outwardly leads through the lire-brick liningl3 and through the body 12 of the shell, said channel being normally closed at vits outer end by a removable plug, indicated at 46. Another outlet channel 47 preferably also inclined downwardly and outwardly, leads from the lower part of the chamber 14, at a level materially higher than the channel 45, through the linin 13 and shell body 12, a removable plug indicated at 48 serving to normally close the outer end of said upper outlet channel 47. Finally, near the top of the chamber 14 is located a gas outlet 49 leading to a stack, and if desired, a suction :tan `or like appliance (not shown) may be interposed in the connection of the gas outlet 49 with the stack.

In Fig. 1 I have indicated at 50 a crucible (of graphiteor other conductin material) set' on the conducting plate or isk 32 and thus connected with the negative pole of the source of electricity. This inserted crucible is employed when the amount of material to be treated is considerably smaller than that for which the chamber 14 is designed. In this case, the ore, mineral, slag, scrap or other metal-bearing material is charged into the crucible 50 up to about the level indicated by the dotted line, so that the lower portion of the electrode 18 will be in contact with said charge, a body of suitable metal, preferably lead ora lead alloy, having first been placed in the lower portion of the crucible 50, as indicated at 51 and a body of similar metal being placed into the chamber 14, as indicated at 52. This body of metal (lead or lead alloy), as well as the charge to be treated, which lies abovesaid body within the crucible 50, are melted and kept in molten condition by heating, such heating being accomplished by hot combustion gases traveling in the annular portion of the chamber 14 around the crucible 50, said gases arising from the burning of the fuel-and-air mixture supplied through the nozzle 36, 37 or some of them, a satisfactory regulation of the heat being obtainable by closing the individual valves 43, 44 partly or entirely; thus, if desired, only the upper nozzles 36 may be operative, or only the lower nozzles 37, or both sets of nozzles. When the charge in the crucible is in a molten condition, it will conduct the electric current, which is then turned on and which will pass from the electrode 18 through the molten charge to the body 51 of lead or lead alloy, to the crucible 50, the plate 32, lead 33, clamp 34 and negative wire 35. The passage of the current through the charge will electrolyze the latter and cause the metal or metals contained in the char e to be deposited on the cathode formed y the molten. body 51; in. some cases (depending on their nature), the metals thus deposited will form alloys with the cathode 51. In

any event, at the end of the electrolytic operation, the body or cathode 51, with t e metal or metals which have been deposited on it (or alloyed with it) from the charge, can be treated by well known processes to separate the several metals lfrom each other, as desired. The metal 52 will, of course, also be melted during the operation and serves to protect the plate 32 from being excessively heated and to form additional contact between such plate and the crucible.

During the smelting and electrolytic treatments, the gaseous products leave by way-of the outlet 49. The passage of the electric current will, of course, serve to keep the material in its molten condition.

When larger amounts of material are to be treated, the crucible 50 is not employed, but the charge of ore or other material is placed directly within the chamber 14, so as to be in contact with the fire-brick lining 13. In this case, a bath or body 52 of molten lead or lead alloy would 'be placed in the lower portion of the chamber 14, in contact with the conducting plate 32, so that this molten conducting body 52 will form the cathode. The charge of metal-bearing material will be placed on top of this cathode 52, such charge to reach about to the level indicated by the dotted lines; that is, the upper surface of the charge will be below the level at which the outlets Aof the upper 'nozzles 36 are located. These nozzles will therefore direct their blasts downwardly` upon the upper surface of the charge, particularly when the nozzles are inclined downwardly and inwardly, as described above. The nozzles 37, on the other hand, are closed by the insertion of plugs of fireresisting material, or may be removed altogether. The upper surface of the cathode 52 will be substantially iush with the lowermost point of that end of the outlet channel 47 whichv opens into the chamber 14. The heating may be accomplished, as before, b the combustion of a uel-and-air mixture a mitted through the nozzles 36, 37.

When the charge is molten, an electric current will be passed therethrough in substantially the same manner as described above, to deposit the metal or metals from the charge upon the cathode 52. After the completion of the operation, the cathode having mixed or alloyed therewith, such metal or metals is withdrawn through cha-nnel 45, but preferably only after the sla hlzis first been withdrawn through channe 4 While I have spoken of a metal-bearing charge, I do not mean to imply that the charge must consistexclusively of metalbearing material; on -the contrary, I may frequently add fluxes to the metal-bearing material proper. I may also, when it is intended to recover metals from ores, minerals,

momaee slag, scrap, ctc. add metal oxides to such material with or without fluxes. These remarks will apply whether the charge is to be treated in the chamber 14C itself, or in a special, inserted crucible, such as 50. Preferably, the material from which the metal is to be extracted is ground or powdered before being brought into the chamber 14 or into the crucible 50, or may even be introduced in a molten state.

The present application is a division of another application tiled by me in the United States Patent Oilice on or about March 3, 1922, Serial No. 540,730.

Various modifications may be made without departing from the nature of my invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A furnace for the reduction of metal comprising a smelting chamber, the inner surface of which is of non-conducting material, means to bring a charge of metal placed within said chamber to a molten condition comprising a plurality of downwardly directed nozzles passing through said inner surface, and means to treat electrolyt-ically the molten metal within said cha-1nber comprising a plate of electrically conducting material set into the bottom of said smelting chamber and an electrode extending downwardly into said chamber substantially in alignment with and spaced from said conducting plate.

2. In an electrolytic furnace a chamber, the inner surface of which is of non-conducting material, a plate of conducting material set into substantially the central portion of the bottom of said chamber, the upper surface of said plate being exposed within said chamber, extending in a substantially horizontal plane and being of sutcient area to support the base of a crucible thereon; an electrode extending downwardly into said chamber substantially in alignment with and spaced from said conducting plate and means to connect said plate and electrode to a source of electricity.

3. A smelting furnace having a smelting chamber, a cover for the top of said furnace, said cover being composed of separable sections itted together with tongue-and-groove joints, and notched to form a central opening, and an electrode extending through said opening.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

RICHARD RODRIAN. 

